VANGUARD VEO 3GO 235CB

£199/$189 The latest incarnation of the VEO 3GO is ideally suited to the selfie generation

One of Vanguard’s new generation of VEO 3GO tripods, this one’s smartly turned out in grey carbon fibre, although an aluminium version is also available. It features 5-section legs and a 2-section centre column, the latter also being made from carbon fibre. The 33cm folded height is 3cm less than for the 3 Legged Thing Corey but the flipside is that has a shorter maximum operating height of 136cm. It’s particularly lightweight at just 1.06kg, whereas the aluminium version weighs in at 1.24kg.

An upgrade is that one of the legs is detachable, so you can use it with the removable centre column as a monopod. It’s equally viable as a selfie stick and, indeed, the tripod comes complete with a mobile phone holder that attaches to the ball head, and even a Bluetooth remote controller. The kit also includes a low angle adapter, which replaces the centre column for low-level shooting.

With a modest maximum load rating of 4kg, it’s not surprising that there’s no adjustable friction damper in the head, but the main lock works well, as does the independent panning lock.

Performance

Considering the plethora of joints in tripods with 5-section legs and a 2-section centre column, rigidity is good, even at the maximum operating height. Resistance to flexing is on a par with the similarly small and lightweight Benro Slim Travel kit on test, which has the same load rating.

SPECIFICATIONS

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Carbon fibre

ALTERNATIVE MATERIAL Aluminium, 1.24kg £169/$139

WEIGHT 1.06kg

FOLDED HEIGHT 33cm

MAX, MIN OPERATING HEIGHT 136cm, 21cm (LAA)

MAX MONOPOD HEIGHT 138cm

HEAD ADJUSTMENTS Lock, pan

BALL HEAD T-50 ball head

QUICK-RELEASE PLATE Arca-swiss type LOAD RATING 4kg